I'm Home!
by claraowl
Summary: Splintered fanfic, listed as Alice in Wonderland due to a distinct lack of category. Alyssa has, after years spent in her human body, decided to return to her true home. Short and sweet; my first Splintered fic. Oneshot!


**Hello, and welcome to my first **_**Splintered**_** fanfic! I own nothing.**

I laugh, my wings snapping out behind me and my eye patches finally forcing their way to the top of my shimmering, again-young skin. The wild, mad landscape I know and can at last admit that I love spreads out beneath me. Wonderland – _my_ Wonderland – laughs back, sending playful bursts of wind to tug at my wings, glad that its Red Queen has finally returned to take up her crown. I swoop down and touch my nose to one of my many-eyed flower friends, who blinks in sleepy surprise.

"Queen Alyssa!" she gasps.

"I'm home," I grin, wings fluttering to keep me airborne, "and this time, it's for keeps. I cannot tell you how glad I am to be back."

"Did you tell the Wise One that you were on your way?" she smirks, putting a leafy hand on one side of my face, inspecting me.

"No, but he no doubt already knows." I allow her to finish her inspection, and then fly higher, waving. "I'm off to reacquaint myself with Wonderland. Do you want to play cards sometime later?"

"That sounds delightful – but with card soldiers or human cards?"

"Neither, of course! We'll use thimbles, like always!" Madness – I've missed it. The human realm was lovely while my loved ones were there, but now it's incredibly dull. I won't be leaving Wonderland for a long time, if ever again. I love and crave the madness of its foundation, and have been yearning for it for far too long. My mortal body's gone, so there's no going back, even if some untwisted portion of my mind wanted to stay sane. Who needs sanity, anyway? I was once told that I was Wonderland, and Wonderland is chaos and madness. It's more fun that way.

My wings lead me to the pulsing heart of Wonderland. I beam and strip off my footwear, taking a moment to laugh at my tattoo before pressing my key to the lock. Nearly tripping down the stairs in my excitement, I descend, toes snagging on the bony steps. My wings balance me, and my grin becomes maniacal. It's been far, far, _far_ too long since my last immersion in total madness; my chaos level was getting low. Maybe I'll seek out chaos incarnate – after all, he was the one who first told me that the Red Court thrives on chaos – unless he finds me first. Being him, he probably will, unless he has yet to hear of my homecoming. The chances of that are so unlikely that I snort; this is, after all, the guy who's kept tabs on me longer than I've been alive. He probably heard that snort.

Contrary to my half-expectations, Morpheus isn't at the bottom of the stairs with wings wide and Repatriation hat tipped at a jaunty angle, some flirty phrase prepared to drive me even further off the deep end. In fact, he isn't anywhere that I visit on my re-acquaintance rounds – he's not even visiting with Ivory, or awaiting me in my bedchambers. Finally, I smirk – either my dark knight doesn't know that I'm here, or he's hiding from me. I take wing and fly to his stronghold. Gossamer greets me at the entrance, openmouthed; obviously, her master didn't mention anything, if he did know. The sprite shows me in and leads me to her master's bedroom. I thank her, and she vanishes into the shadows.

The door's open, so I go in without a sound. Morpheus is sitting with his back to the door, wings drooping as he watches something unfold in a looking-glass. With a start, I realize that he's watching my mortal body's funeral. I lift off silently from the ground, and draw closer; his jewels flash the color of mourning. Unable to watch this – it's distinctly unsettling to view my own funeral – I fly over his head and imitate his accent. "What's got you so down, luv?"

He visibly jumps, and I laugh, landing in front of him. "Alyssa?"

"What, no Repatriation hat? No weird little quip?" I raise one eyebrow, smirking. "Where are all those tabs you kept on me, nether-luv? Didn't you know that I was coming?"

He gapes at me, his gems flashing from surprise to happiness to something I've classified as lust. "You finally made it."

"As it transpires, dying is a lot easier than jumping down the rabbit hole," I inform him, stepping closer, using my wings to shield us from vision. He follows suit, sweeping his wings around mine in an intimate embrace. Pulses of electric chaos nearly break me, and I beam.

"Welcome home, luv," he whispers. "Did you miss me at all, while you were playing with your mortal toy?"

"I missed Wonderland occasionally at first, and then constantly during my later years," I reply.

"Didn't I ever tell you that Wonderland and I are on and the same?" his smirk tells me that he thinks he's trapped me into some sort of confession.

"Several times. You also told me that _I_ was Wonderland," I add, "so wouldn't that make the two of us one?"

"Lovely Alyssa, you're stealing all my best lines," he half-lamented, his jewels glowing with pride. "Now how am I supposed to seduce you?"

"By constantly appearing in my dreams after the death of my husband, just to bring some chaos back into my life?" I suggest lightly, tapping the top button of his shirt accusingly.

"The Red Court thrives on chaos, my dear Red Queen," he reminds me.

"And as chaos incarnate, it was your duty to make sure I had enough to survive," I finish for him. "Learn to recognize a thank-you, luv."

"That's what you call a thank-you? Considering our current position, I must say that I was hoping for something a bit more –"

"—mad?"

"No, but mad will work. Unbalance me."

"Gladly." I flap my wings, breaking out of the cocoon that his form around mine, and push off of his chest. I then animate his Bereavement hat, sending the dead moths flying over to his hat stand. Surprisingly, he staggers; apparently, he had put his weight forward. "Aw, were you expecting a kiss?"

"Hope springs eternal, luv," he shrugs, fetching his Repatriation hat and perching it upon his head. "Are you glad to be home?"

"More than you can imagine," I grin, and his jewels flash brightly.

"Oh, I can imagine an awful lot concerning you, little luv," he assures me. He pauses, then adds with a wink, "I could recite one of my fantasies for you now, if you like."

"Save it for after the feast, alright? I'm hungry, and have a rather strong desire to strike the main course dead. Would you care to join me? I'm sure that there's room in the hall somewhere."

"Would that somewhere be on your right-hand side?"

"Possibly; you may have to settle for less, though, if Ivory and Grenadine are joining us."

"I suppose I'll survive, if I get to have you for dessert, luv."

"Only in your dreams, Morpheus."

"Only in _yours,_ you mean," he corrects me.

I can feel my grin growing wider as he steps close again, tilting my head up to his. "It's good to be home."

A few minutes are spent among the clouds, licorice-flavored and heady. When breath is drawn, he informs me, "You do realize that I'm never going to let another knight to come close to you again."

I laugh, taking his hand and leading him out, taking to my wings once we get outside. "Of course I realize that – I know that this time, my stay in Wonderland is eternal."

He smirks at me. "Speaking of eternity, when shall we get started on that son?"

I drop his hand and speed ahead, only to have him flip me around in midair. A grin spreads across my face. "Save it until after the wedding, alright? I haven't even proposed yet."

"Who said you get to propose?"

"Ask Rabid – it's traditional for a Red Queen if she's single."

"Traditions, luv, are made to be broken."

I roll my eyes at him. "Save it until after the feast."

And he did wait to propose – for precisely three seconds after the feast ended, to be exact. I knocked his hat off and told him that I wouldn't answer him yet. He doesn't need one, anyway – we both saw our future. It's just fun, playing with him a little.

By way of answering, I proposed half a year later. He, unsurprisingly, accepted my offer with one of his quips and a flourish of his Connubial hat.

This was some time ago – now I sit at the head of the table, mallet in hand; our son tumbles in, and launches himself into my arms. I laugh, and Morpheus grins before kissing me and stealing my mallet.

In other words, I've never regretted coming back to Wonderland.

I don't think that I ever will.

**Well, that was mildly OoC. Please forgive me! I've never written for these characters before!**


End file.
